The Plan

Last week I wrote about my addiction to food and my resolution to combat that addiction in order to lose weight. It’s an important step, deciding to do something, but equally important is discussing how you will achieve that lofty goal. What follows is the start of my map to overall health. Overtime the map will grow more complex with branching paths, but right now let’s just draw the walk that starts at the front door shall we?


Get Inspired

This is an important and nebulous starting point. Being inspired to lose weight is certainly pushed forward by my health needs and for my family’s well-being, but I’ve also added some more motivation for myself. I’ve taken a before picture that I will print out and keep with me as a constant reminder of what I’m fighting and I’ll also be sending that terrible picture to a close confidant that is to keep it for a number of months. If, within those months, I make no progress they are to post that horror on Facebook for everyone to see. It’s not pretty folks and I don’t want it out there so it’ll push me to stick to what I’m going to do.

I’ve also watched a number of inspirational documentaries and movies along with a few shows. Many people find The Biggest Loser gives them hope and I agree though I also strongly encourage you to watch Supersize Me, Food Inc and Fat Sick and Nearly Dead. All of these have given me the starting tools I need to put this fatty bug down for good.


Tell Someone

In an effort to give me a few more watchdogs for the days my willpower fails I’ve asked for the help of those that are close to me. Letting people know that I’ve planned to lose the weight puts certain expectations on me that don’t involve gulping down a few bags of M&Ms. It’s also a very important step so that I can gather the support and motivation from others when I can no longer see it myself.



Getting Off The Couch

I’d love to say that I’m going to start training for a marathon, but let’s be honest here: I’m really out of shape. (Well I am in shape it’s just sort of a rotund one). I know my limits (though sometimes I ignore them) and with the way I huff and puff after walking up and down some stairs I need to start somewhere a little more pedestrian. I’m going to begin by getting at least 30 minutes of planned cardio activity a day. At first that might be something as simple as a brisk walk though I hope to work up into at least an hour of cardio a day for 6 days a week. After a start-up period of two weeks I will begin to lift weights on alternating days 3 days a week following the Body For Life workout plans.



Eating (And Drinking) Right

Here we are at the hardest part. I know from experience a cold turkey all or nothing approach simply does not work in the long haul. I’ll be following Weight Watchers, which I know from experience is the best way to lose weight if you follow it. The program gives you a better idea of the portions you should eat, what your putting in your mouth, and an overall sense that you can stick with the plan. On Weight Watchers you often feel full and the flex points will let you splurge now and again without falling off the band wagon completely. I will not be attending the meetings since I already have what I need to participate (which you yourself can get from going to one free meeting).

Starting small is always a good idea so cutting out the biggest and worst calories is a starter. I’ll be keeping a food journal which will let me know the times of day and the types of food that really do me in so I can help to avoid them. Water wise I plan on drinking around 80 ounces of water daily and cutting out all soda (diet or otherwise) for at least two weeks. My goal is to move soda back from a mainstay of my life and back into the role it should be playing: an occasional treat.



Corrective Thinking and Staying Positive

Eating right might be the hardest part, but this is the most important. In my last blog post I let you know the problems I’ve had with food and how compulsive my eating habits are. Most of my happy memories have some component of food to them, even if it’s just a day out shopping with my family. Often when we do that we’ll stop at QuikTrip for pop, candy bars or chips and it’s just something that I’ve grown used to. I have to break that line of thinking that connects food directly to happiness with a process called corrective thinking. Whenever I begin to think about food when not hungry I’ll need to remind myself that it’s just food. Sure it tastes good, but it’s not what makes those memories happy. I’m not going on a diet here I’m making a lifestyle change. Really anybody who is trying to lose weight is, or should be, participating in behavior modification therapy basically. I need to move past the destructive way I’ve been doing things and form new behaviors and that stops by cutting the negative ones off at the source with corrective thinking.

One of the greatest challenges I’ve always had is staying positive. I’m really a negative person almost by default and so it’s easy for me to give up when I don’t lose, or heaven forbid gain, when I get on the scale. It’s that sort of self defeat that has landed me back here in this spot again and again and it’s something I need to break past. Making a mistake or having a bad meal or even a bad day usually sees me giving up when really I should see it as a bump in the road and move past it. By learning from my past mistakes, instead of wallowing in them, I plan to firmly see and achieve my goals without letting my negativity get the better of me.

There you have it. The ABC building blocks that I hope will make a firm foundation for my success. Please feel free to share your individual plans in the comments below, I’d be very interested to hear about them.